that damage can never be undone. >> reporter: jane perez says she never imagined her reviews on yelp and angie's list would land her in court facing thousands of dollars in legal fees and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for defamation. >> it was the seal. >> reporter: she'd hired dietz to install a toilet, refinish floors and fix light switches, but when things went south, she wrote that dietz damaged her home and hinted that he had stolen her jewelry. the judge ordered her to take down any allegations of thievery and to stop claiming she'd won another lawsuit against dietz on the merits. her lawyer says there is a warning here for all of us. >> be very careful. it appears at least in virginia you have to watch very carefully what you say and what you opine. >> reporter: but the judge did not order perez to change a bunch of other nasty things in

her review. >> that he charged for work that had not been done and that the workmanship was very poor. >> i stand by the work that i did. >> reporter: experts say lawsuits like this are rare, but online reputations now so important we may well see more. in fairfax bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> we have to tell you the experts do tell us the number of lawsuits like that one are still pretty small, but online reputations are now so important to restaurants, doctors, lawyers, contractors we may well see more of them. dietz says he may have lost nearly a million dollars from jane perez's nasty reviews. not much progress, but a bit of promise tonight in our fiscal cliff notes. today president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke on the phone about the looming budget cuts, but as of now, no evidence there's any future negotiations scheduled. a new poll by the associated press shows 48% of those asked support letting tax cuts expire january 1st for those earning more than $250,000 a year, but

extending them for everybody else. just 32% say the cuts ought to be extended across the board. joining us now to talk fiscal cliff and ramifications for all of us around here in the d.c. area, virginia congress member gerry connolly, a democrat representing annandale, parts of prince herndon county, fairfax, welcome, sir. we know the arguments by now, very familiar. the president wants to cut off the tax cuts for everybody making over a quarter million. john boehner and the house republicans would rather see deductions and hoop holes closed. why are you? are you with the president wholeheartedly on this? >> well, i certainly agree with the president that we need to let the top tax bracket expire. he ran explicitly on that. there weren't a lot of explicits in this presidential campaign, but that was one of them. i think it ought to be open to negotiation what the income threshold is. the president laid out 250. i think there's maneuverability there. i think that's probably too

low. >> is there maneuverability on the percentage? could it be 37 or 38? >> i think he has signaled that he's willing to negotiate on that, but the republicans have simply said no tax increases of any kind. >> compromise goes both ways, sir. so what major issue that's important to your side would you be willing to put on the table in terms of entitlement spending, social security? what would you give the republicans in return for them giving up on rates? >> well, first of all, we've already entertained and adopted a lot of cuts in spending, but i think everything should be on the table right now. >> raising the age for medicare, would that be on the table as far as you're concerned? >> yeah. having it on the table doesn't mean at the end of the day we'll agree to it. >> but you would be willing to at least talk about it. let's talk about the fact that the atmospherics here have not been very pretty. i'm wondering when you walk around the halls of congress and see your other 434 member and get you a glass of water

there so you can recover, do you talk about this and say hey, what can we do to make this go forward or is this sort of like the lunch room in high school where the two sides don't speak to each other too much? >> i think it's like the lunch room in high school unfortunately, not a lot of discussion about what we ought to be doing. >> that's not comforting. so what about this fiscal cliff? some would suggest and your party, as a matter of fact, said hey, let us go off the enand maybe you can cut back the tax increases on other -- edge and maybe you can cut back the tax rexes on others later, but that would at least mean -- taxes on others later, but that would at least mean people making more would pay more. >> i think it underestimates the potential impact on the economy and the very people we're trying to protect would be the most affected if that happened. so i don't think it's a good idea at all to go off the fiscal cliff. >> first of all, two questions, would you be willing to work

through the christmas holiday to make sure this gets done? >> absolutely. >> second question, what about foregoing any pay until you solve this problem? >> well, the problem with that is there are 535 of us and i'm willing to solve the problem and compromise. i don't want to be penalized because of somebody else. >> fair enough. congressman connolly, we thank you for being here. i take it that means you want to keep collecting your paycheck. >> i want to get something done for the american people and in congress of two years the people get to throw us out of office if we didn't do our job. >> thank you, fair enough. glad you got that cough under control. tomorrow maryland senator ben cardin will be here and talk about fiscal cliff as well at 7:00. you can send in questions to mailbag@wusa9.com or leave a post on the wusa9 facebook page. if you want to blow up a bank atm, you better bring a lot of firepower. around 4 a.m. this morning somebody tried to blow open an atm in

fredericksburg at the drive- thru of the virginia credit union, but all those explosives did was leave scorch marks. investigators hope the surveillance video can lead them to the mad bomber and we do mean mad. a 14-year-old gunned down on the street, police saying it was a targeted gang killing. this happened after midnight in the lewisdale, maryland area along sheridan street. investigators say elizer reyes was walking down the street with two other people. a car drove by and there was open fire and he was killed. police found the car but are looking for the shooter. tonight fans remember the first modern jazz musician to appear on the cover of time magazine, dave brubeck, would have turned 92 tomorrow. his quartet first formed in 1951 and went on to define some of the smoking and swinging rhythms of the '50s and '60s, brubeck prance best known for

the song take five. dave brubeck passed away this morning in connecticut. he was 91. still to come tonight, it may be great for the pandas at national zoo but not so great for your backyard, a look at 1 community's battle against bamboo -- one community's battle against bamboo. >> we lost about 12 degrees today in, store for a cold night. we'll look ahead to the weekend, all important redskins/ravens game. >> but first the buzz at verizon center, a look what the folks are saying about who was courtside last night. that story is up next.

check out the comradery at the end of the wizards shocking win over the miami heat last

night. redskins qb rg3 sitting courtside offering up handshakes and chest bumps with the basketballers after the 105- 101 upset and right of that social media just went wild. dan steinberg from the post wrote rg3 to all the games for every team. a fan named greg posted rg3 magic is something else. wizards beat the heat with him courtside and i may have even weighed in with rg3 in the busy hizzy brought the wizards good luck. i don't think he'll come to every game, though. follow me on twitter at mcginty man if you like. states have taken action banning eating behind the wheel. now a town's new distracted driving law not only lets cops pull you over for texting while driving but also eating, reading the paper and putting on makeup. is that law appropriate? does it go too far? you can never cross the line in

an e-mail to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com or leave a comment on our facebook page. still ahead topper is back with a look at the upcoming changes in our forecast. in fact, they've already gotten started, but first new york and new jersey not the only places still struggling to recover from hurricane sandy, a look at the superstorm's impact in part of maryland up next. this is a 9 news fiscal cliff note. fact, if congress and the white house don't reach an agreement, your pay economic is going to go down. the reason? because the tax withholding in your paycheck will increase. here's the back story. the current payroll tax cut is set to expire december 31st. in dollars and cents this means your payroll tax withholding is going from 4.2% to 6.2%. now why is this happening? many of the policies expiring at the end of the year like the

payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits were originally passed on a temporary basis. the thinking was that the economy would be in much better shape by now and the policies could expire without causing a recession. >> you can learn more any time at www.wusa9.com and on 9 news. this has been a 9 news fiscal cliff note.

sources tell the associated press president obama will ask the congress for $50 billion in the aftermath of superstorm sandy. now the late october storm was one of the worst to ever hit the northeast section of the country and out in crisfield, maryland, along the eastern shore there's plenty of debris out there. homeowners are still working to repair damage and waiting for any form of federal aid they can get. one maryland community wants to take major action against a plant.

residents in mount rainier say their neighborhood is so plagued by bamboo they want it banned altogether. scott broom with the pictures. >> reporter: bamboo, an asian import, invasive species that's become a plague in mount rainier, maryland. it's the most bamboo infested city in the state. you had a term for it. >> the devil's weed. >> reporter: and well known dramatic actor bus howard is under siege and at wit's end. >> we had a garden and all of that and now there's nothing. can you see this root action? see how gnarly that looks. this thing actually looks like something in a sci-fi. >> reporter: weeks ago howard cut the stuff to the ground in his yard. it is already back. >> the first day you'll see the shoot come out of the ground and it's approximately like this. the second day it's about a foot tall. the third day it's about 3, 4 feet tall. the fourth day it's over 6

feet. >> reporter: howard is not nearly alone. bamboo grows between houses through fences and spreads like cancer to the next unlucky neighbor's yard. sometimes it even gets through concrete and foundations. residents cut it down to make trellises and gates, but there's always more where that comes from. and now mount rainier is considering a ban to make it illegal to plant this stuff ever again. >> nonindigenous species of anything is just an aberration, be that fish, flora or fauna. it doesn't belong here. >> reporter: he's very much in favor of the ban even though he knows it's not going to do him a lot of good. he doesn't need bain. he needs a bull -- a ban. he needs a bulldozer. scott broom, 9 news now. >> i'm thinking the ban won't help anybody who is already

infested. bamboo is already banned in college park. there's a $200 fine for shoots that get into any neighboring yards. a brand new tree will be the center piece of the national christmas tree lighting tomorrow on the ellipse and it's not bamboo. the first family will there be in the 5:00 hour. this year's display features 56 trees in all including one for each state, territory and, of course, our town washington d.c. this is the 90th year for the event. organizers are expecting more than 20,000 people for the show. we will bring it to you live right here on wusa9. top, what kind of temperatures are we expecting? not too bad but not balmy like the last couple days? >> no, no 70s but 40s. erica will go out there tomorrow night. dress warmer than you think i told her and i'll tell you. it just seems to be colder there. it's a new tree they got within

50 miles of the nation's capital. the one before it a storm blew over. that was a live tree. it didn't take well. now they have a new one. they think hopefully it will take there. >> so it days there after. >> stays there. >> learn something new. we show you pictures from space all the time, but this is a composite of the dark side of the earth. you can see all the light from the populated areas. this is from nasa. it's going to help us study some of the human activities on the earth we don't understand so well and even some weather activities we don't understand in the dark, kind of cool stuff. that's a composite again. let's take live look outside. we are looking at temperatures primarily in the 40s now, 50 downtown, but the burbs are in the 40s, dew points upper 20s. we have a colder night in store, much drier air mass, winds still north, northwest at 15 and pressure still rising at 30.24 inches of mercury.

i mentioned this at 6:00. this is my holiday survey. what position is the bow on your wreath? maybe 12:00, 1:00 or down to the right, 5:00? tweet me at topper's weather. we'll announce the preference tomorrow. i had an idea of what i thought would be the winner, but i may be wrong. let me know where your bow is positioned. 20 mile-per-hour wind guss in gaithersburg, 22 -- gust in gaithersburg, 22 still downtown. the winds will die down. it will be a slow process. 46 in rockville, bethesda, 45 in fair fax, 48 college park, 47 bowie, colder but not for long. you'll need a coat tonight, sunglasses tomorrow, a little milder friday and warmer over the weekend. i just looked at some new information. we may actually be in better shape saturday and sunday which means temperatures are the same with less of a chance of a shower, nice deal. next three days our 9 weather

alerts are green, chilly tomorrow, 57, milder saturday, 63, maybe a sprinkle, a fair amount of clothes. redskins and ravens at fedex sunday. new inform shows most of the sprinkles -- new information shows most of the sprinkles and showers up along the maryland border. showers definitely monday, colder tuesday and wednesday but nothing crazy. >> you are the man, top. we've got an update now on a story we've been following. late last night the d.c. council rejected a plan that would have authorized red top parking meters for handicapped drivers. that bill would have required drivers to pay for that parking, but that bill died in a vote that ended tied 6-6. work set to begin tonight on the beltway at kenilworth avenue. the three southbound lanes will be shut down overnight. those closings are expected to continue through the end of the

week. a member of the montgomery county council want the maryland transportation authority to lower -- wants the maryland transportation authority to lower the tolls on the icc. philed ankers says -- phil anders says the fees should be cut in half. it does sound a tad pricey. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight the fiscal cliff are debbie from arlington says raising taxes on the rich is no since. how about let them pay their fair share? why should the elderly and those collecting social security suffer? sounds like republicans are fighting the tax hike for the rich tooth and nail because it will affect them. >> debbie, you might be right on the last point, but i don't think it's about anybody paying a fair share so much as it is you can't cut your way out of this deficit and who is it that can afford to pay a bit more in taxes, but john from chantilly says lawmakers may not be that anxious to make the deal and jump off that fumble after all, we go over the cliff -- off

that fiscal cliff. after all, we will go over the cliff and there will be cuts which should gland the hearts of republicans and -- gladden the hearts of republicans and then we will have more revenue which will grand the hearts of democrats. we -- gladden the hearts of dems. we will very likely go back -- democrats. we will very likely go back and elect the same group of people to do the same bad job and then this. the football player from kansas city who killed the mother of his child and then himself, he said bob costas was wrong when he argued that cassandra perkins would still be alive if belcher doesn't have a gun. what next? control on cars? they are used in more homicide than guns. we need to amp up our education on certain freedoms and liberties and put larger penalties on those who abuse them, but nick, that is the point. we don't ban cars because they're potentially dangerous, but there are significant controls on their use and ownership.

they're registered, licensed and you have to have training. what controls would you accept on the ownership of firearms? i'm just asking. you can answer at mailbag@wusa9.com. that is our report. i'll be right back here at 11:00 along with anita and topper. don't forget. log on any time to www.wusa9.com. have a great evening. we'll talk to you a bit later. bye bye.

♪ "e.t." duchess kate's pregnancy, the prank and the hospital's royal security breach. [ phone ringing ] >> hello, i'm just after my granddaughter kate, i want to see how her little tummy bug is going. >> the fake phone call, pretending to be the queen. the nurse giving out intimate information about kate. >> now, will william and the palace press charges? >> i think it was a pretty poor trick to play. then, new evidence of royal twins. plus, the star with kate's same pregnancy illness. and hollywood twins, from scarlett johansson to gisele bundchen to ashton kutcher. >> he's always going to be my best friend. kate hudson's sing-off with lea michele. then -- britney's christmas i dos. >> how are your wedding plans going? >> pretty good. >> rihanna and